Champion of Gilneas
by Shadowsplosion
Summary: Ashleena's journey through her life in Gilneas, with her trusty hound sidekick Neptune. Now with 20% added realism. Rated T for violence and language. Probably going up in later chapters. Joy. This is hot off of the press work, so I apologize for errors!


**Chapter one: Merchant Square.**

...

_Day 1_

_Mother gave me a journal for my 18__h__ birthday... today. I decided to humour her and write in it during my upcoming journey. __Father has gotten me something more practical. He has given me a new axe and a gun with a rather large amount of bullets. Very useful considering I'm going to go on this journey of mine! I'll be leaving tomorrow night. I have nearly finished my beginning hunter training, so this will be... exciting. It will be good to get out of Gilneas._

_However, Mother has just said we are being invaded by someone... or something. This might put a hold on my journey. Our family is currently preparing for evacuation, packing for me seeing as I decided to stay behind with my hound Neptune to help the army._

_A lot's happened! The prince thought I had to be evacuated. I didn't want to go. The bitch sends me to a dead lieutenant just as the fighting starts. I return and kill a few Worgens. I evacuate the entire square._

_I'm going to stop writing now. This was a lot off of my chest and I really want to survive tonight. I'll update once this is over._

...

Ashleena sighed. She didn't know what was happening, or whom they were being invaded by. Every so often, she'd see something leap across the roof, or howl. This was odd. Either the invaders had a lot of hounds... or it was something much more sinister.

The red haired huntress walked through to the Merchant Square, Neptune noiselessly padding beside her. Every so often he would bark and run ahead, or sniff the air. If Neptune was acting odd, there had to be something seriously wrong. She bit on her lower lip thoughtfully, pulling out her gun and keeping a wary eye out for anything. She was ready for anything. She really hoped. Voices drifted out as she entered the centre of the square. The usually bustling streets were empty save for the 12 or so City Guards – a few whom she recognised, a few who she had never seen in her life – and a horse. Straddling said horse? The Prince, Liam Greymane. Sure, he was an upstart, arrogant prick, but she had to admit he was pretty... chill? She didn't know.

She bowed as she approached, seeing that he had noticed her entry. He looked away though, and began speaking – as a whole – to both her and the guards. She let out a sigh, which went unheard. Well, at least he was focused.

"We protected Gilneas from the Scourge. We protected Gilneas during the Northgate rebellion; we will protect Gilneas from whatever this new threat may be." The Prince was shouting – and was that a little bit of shaking to his voice? -, which earned him the whole attention of the guards, and perhaps a bit of eyebrow rising from the hunter.

Well that sucked. They didn't even know, either! However, he continued.

"Stand ready, Guards! We don't know how many intruders we are dealing with, but the Headlands are overrun and we're cut off from the harbour towns. Expect to be outnumbered."

No shit.

"I want the perimeter secured and the gates manned by two guards at all times. No one gets in, no one gets out." That seeming to be the end of his speech, the guards saluted him and ran to position. The Prince turned on his horse and beckoned to Ashleena.

Ashleena walked over, putting her gun away as she did. It wouldn't have been good if she had gone around showing her weapons, would it?

"It's not safe out here, Ashleena. Seek shelter before it's too late." The Prince said, which – again – caused the ginger girl to raise an eyebrow. "What are you still doing here? Haven't you heard? The city's under complete lockdown. Go see Lieutenant Walden – he'll give you further directions for evacuation."

"I can protect myself, Prince Liam." She replied, although grumpily. At his glare, she walked off. Of course, she bowed to him when she was nearly out of his sight. A rat scurried past as she approached the end of the street, eliciting a grimace from the female. However, as she walked around the corner, she saw dead guards, with nobody else in sight. Her hound padded up to the guards and sniffed at the corpses.

Ashleena walked up to what had once been Lieutenant Walden and knelt down. Deep claw marks run through the corpse, leaving a – very much – dead corpse. The jugular was torn right open, which was probably what had killed him beforehand. The lieutenant seems to have died from severe wounds. The prince might need to know this news. Neptune suddenly howled beside her, looking alert. She looked around then, biting down her growing revulsion. Not at her hound, but at the corpse. She heard the sound of fighting from the market. She patted Neptune and started jogging up back to where the guards were – and hopefully the prince, because she had to report this.

Three of the guards and the prince himself were fighting...

What the hell was that? It looked like a wolf with pants of all things on. Standing bipedal and trying to kill Greymane's horse. Was she high or something?

"We need to salvage the supplies!" Another woman's voice shouted through the combat. Probably Gwen Armstead, for all she knew.

She aimed her gun to the wolf, aiding her fellow guards and the prince himself in defeating this... thing. She sent off enough arcane shots trying to take him down. It didn't seem to be going down that fast. But before long it fell to the ground, a corpse. She walked up to the prince, who was now in combat with other wolves. The guards however, were doing great in keeping them held off.

"I'm guessing you need my help now, highness."

"It's you again. Looks like you're not one to hide in the face of danger... Very well, then. Ashleena, we need you! There are Worgen everywhere!" He replied distractedly, parrying claw from another wolf. Neptune lunged at it, teeth bared. The hound ripped the jugular out of the Worgen's throat before the Worgen even knew Neptune had lunged.

"Is that what you call them? Oh, by the way... Lieutenant Walden's been killed; probably by these beasts too." She replied, killing off another Worgen... thing... with a very well placed headshot. She knew the prince wasn't listening, though.

"Worgen! My father warned me that Archmage Arugal's creations had run amok. But where are they coming from?" Liam exclaimed, before another Worgen cut him off and jumped down in front of them. Ashleena simply aimed the gun down to the back of the beast's head and pulled the trigger. Brain matter exploded onto the side of Greymane's shirt. She hid her chuckling behind a cough as he looked disgusted. He seemed to regain his composure though, as he shouted a command to his guards.

"Stand your ground, men!" He yelled, which was somehow heard over the vast amount of fighting. Ashleena didn't even know of his shouting skills. He turned to her again, and Ashleena curiously quirked a ginger eyebrow. He's chatty for a prince.

"It's no use, Ashleena! They're not letting up!" He said, despite the fact that their part of the square was already clear of the beasts. Maybe they just learned not to run at them. "The civilians aren't safe in their homes. We're doing our best from keeping the Worgens from getting indoors, but their numbers are rising. Help us evacuate the civilian homes. My father's army in the prison district will be able to protect them more so then we are."

Ashleena nodded, gripped her gun, and then sped off to help evacuate them. As she did, she remembered to pick up some supply crates. She had remembered Gwen Armstead would probably need them.

She knocked on the first daw she saw, and a two frightened citizens ran out with a yell of "There's one after us!"... Oh, great.

Ashleena quickly aimed her gun up as a Worgen barrelled out of the door. She fired before it could claw her, and it tumbled over. She quickly sidestepped the falling corpse before it could land on her. For a while, Ashleena lost track of time as she went around the square evacuating people. Before long, all of the citizens had either been killed or had been evacuated. She returned to help the prince again, dropping off the crates with the Armstead lady.

As she approached, the Prince nodded at her. "It's time for you to leave, Ashleena. Go to the Military District with the other civilians."

Ashleena frowned. They were running away? She didn't want to do that. She wanted to stay and fight!

"Check in with Gwen Armstead – the woman you just passed – when you cross the bridge to the southeast... See if everyone's okay. I will stay here with the guards and cover the retreat." Liam continued, cutting off her thoughts. At Ashleena's hesitation, he scowled.

"Go now! That is an order!" He yelled, startling Ashleena a bit.

"Yes sir!"

...

A/N: So here's the first chapter. I'm going by area rather than by quest. Sorry if this is bad... I'm doing better than I thought I would. This story will have a few graphics added later. Like a few screenshots per chapter. Reviews accepted. No flames please! If you don't like the story, constructive criticism is better than a random flame! If you want to know anything about the story, feel free to ask.


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